1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a half-fitting prevention connector in which a slider, mounted on at least one of a pair of connectors to be fittingly connected together, positively prevents a half-fitted condition of the two connectors by a resilient force of spring members, and also the slider can positively lock the connector to the mating connector in a fitted condition.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-165539, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, various electronic equipments are mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and therefore, naturally, various types of female and male connectors are provided at connection ends of various kinds of wires forming wire harnesses or the like.
Various half-fitting prevention connectors, capable of detecting a half-fitted condition of the female and male connectors, have been used, and one half-fitting prevention connector is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 5-81967.
This half-fitting prevention connector comprises a pin-type connector, having a plurality of juxtaposed pin contacts mounted therein, and a socket-type connector having a plurality of juxtaposed socket contacts mounted therein. A movable cover is mounted on the outer periphery of the female connector for movement back and forth. Spring receiving portions are provided at opposite side portions of this movable cover, respectively, and spring members are received respectively in these spring receiving portions, and extend in a forward-rearward direction.
In this half-fitting prevention connector, however, although a half-fitted condition can be prevented by the resilient force of the spring members, there is encountered a problem that when trying to fit the two connectors together while holding the opposite side surfaces of the movable cover with the hand, the movable cover can not be moved, and therefore the efficiency of the fitting operation is low.
Therefore, various half-fitting prevention connectors for solving the above problem have been proposed. FIGS. 10 to 13 show a half-fitting prevention connector 100 disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 10-289756.
As shown in FIG. 10, this half-fitting prevention connector 100 comprises a pair of male and female connectors 1A and 2 to be fittingly connected together.
The male connector 1A comprises a housing 3A which includes an inner housing 3a having terminal receiving chambers 17 for respectively receiving a predetermined number of (two in the illustrated example) socket contacts 31. A slider receiving portion 4 for slidably receiving a slider 10 (described later) is formed above the inner housing 3a, and an outer housing, serving as a hood portion 19, covers the outer periphery of the inner housing 3a, with a suitable space formed therebetween, the outer housing forming the slider receiving portion 4.
Side rib-receiving portions 19a for respectively receiving side ribs 27 (described later) of the female connector 2 are formed in an inner surface of the hood portion 19, and extend in a fitting direction.
Guide grooves 5 for respectively guiding opposite side portions of a slider body 11 are formed respectively at opposite side portions of the slider receiving portion 4, and tubular spring receiving portions 3c are formed respectively at rear ends of the guide grooves 5. A lock arm 6 of the cantilever type is formed integrally at a central portion of the slider receiving portion 4, and extends in the fitting direction, and a free end (distal end) portion of this lock arm 6 can be elastically displaced in an upward-downward direction.
A lock projection 7, having a slanting surface 7b, is formed on an upper surface of the lock arm 6, and a housing lock 8 for retaining engagement with a female housing 21 (described later) is formed on a lower surface of the lock arm 6 at the distal end thereof. Displacement prevention projections 8a for preventing the displacement of the lock arm 6 are formed integrally on the upper surface of the lock arm 6, and face away from the housing lock 8. Side spaces 4a for respectively receiving abutment projections 14 of the slider 10 (described later) are provided at opposite sides of the lock arm 6, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 10, the slider 10 has an elastic slider arm 12 of the cantilever type provided at a generally central portion of the slider body 11, and the pair of abutment projections 14 are formed respectively on opposite side portions of a lower surface of the slider arm 12 at a front end thereof. The slider 10 includes a pressing portion 15, which is operated when canceling the fitting connection, a slide groove 13 formed in the slider arm 12 and the pressing portion 15, and a pair of spring retaining portions 16 which are formed respectively at opposite side portions of a lower rear portion of the slider, and retain a pair of compression springs (spring members) 9 and 9, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 11, the female connector 2 includes terminal receiving chambers 29 (each in the form of a through hole) for respectively receiving a predetermined number of (two in the illustrated example) pin contacts 32, and this female connector has a housing insertion port 26 open to the front end thereof. A pair of stopper projections 22 are formed on the upper surface of the housing 21, and these projections 22 abut respectively against the abutment projections 14 of the slider 10 when the connectors are fitted together. An engagement projection 23 for retaining the housing lock 8 is formed between the stopper projections 22 and 22, and this engagement projection 23 has a slanting surface for flexing (elastically deforming) the lock arm 6 of the male connector 1A when the lock arm 6 is brought into engagement with the engagement projection 23. A bracket 28 for mounting on an associated member is formed on the housing 21, and is disposed at the lower side of the housing insertion port 26.
First, as shown in FIG. 11, when the slider 10, having the compression springs 9 retained respectively by the spring retaining portions 16, is inserted into the slider receiving portion 4 from the front side of the male connector 1A, the slider body 11 is moved rearward along the guide grooves 5. At this time, the abutment projections 14, formed on the lower surface of the slider arm 12, are received respectively in the side spaces 4a provided respectively at the opposite sides of the lock arm 6.
Then, the compression springs 9 are received in the spring receiving portions 3c, respectively, and also the lock projection 7 is fitted in the slide groove 13, so that the slider 10 is supported on the housing 3A so as to move between a lock position and a non-lock position. In the non-lock position of the slider 10, the slider 10 is disposed at a proximal end-side of the lock arm 6 to allow the elastic deformation of the lock arm 6 when the lock arm 6 is brought into and out of engagement with the mating housing. In the lock position, the slider 10 is disposed at a distal end-side of the lock arm 6 to prevent the elastic deformation of the lock arm 6.
In the slider-mounted condition, the slider 10 is urged forward (that is, to the lock position) by the resilient force of the compression springs 9 as shown in FIG. 11, and a rear end 13a of the slide groove 13 is engaged with the lock projection 7 in the slide groove 13, and also the displacement prevention projections 8a at the distal end of the lock arm 6 are abutted against a displacement prevention portion 11a of the slider 10, thereby preventing upward elastic displacement of the lock arm 6.
Then, the socket contacts 31 are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers 17 open to the rear end of the housing 3A of the male connector 1A, and these contacts 31 are retained respectively by housing lances formed respectively within the terminal receiving chambers 17. The pin contacts 32 are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers 29 open to the rear end of the housing 21 of the female connector 2, and these contacts 32 are retained respectively by housing lances formed respectively within the terminal receiving chambers 29.
Then, when the male and female connectors 1A and 2 begin to be fitted together as shown in FIG. 12, the stopper projections 22 of the female connector 2 are inserted respectively into the side spaces 4a (see FIG. 10) provided respectively at the opposite sides of the lock arm 6 of the male connector 1A, and these stopper projections 22 abut respectively against the abutment projections 14 of the slider 10, and when the female connector 2 is pushed, the compression springs 9 are compressed to produce a resilient force.
Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds, the slider 10 is pushed rearward (right in FIG. 12) against the bias of the compression springs 9, and the housing lock 8 at the distal end of the lock arm 6 engages the engagement projection 23 of the female connector 2. If the pushing operation is stopped in this half-fitted condition, the male and female connectors 1A and 2 are pushed back away from each other in their respective disengaging directions (opposite to their respective fitting directions) by the resilient force of the compression springs 9, so that this half-fitted condition can be easily detected.
Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds as shown in FIG. 13, the slider arm 12 of the slider 10 is elastically deformed upwardly by the slanting surface 7b of the lock projection 7, so that the abutting engagement of each stopper projection 22 with the associated abutment projection 14 of the slider 10 is canceled. Then, the housing lock 8 at the distal end of the lock arm 6 slides over the engagement projection 23, and is retained by this projection 23 while the slider arm 12, disengaged from the stopper projections 22, is returned to the lock position by the resilient force of the compression springs 9.
When the slider 10 is returned to the lock position by the resilient force of the compression springs 9, the displacement prevention portion 11a of the slider 10 abuts against the displacement prevention projections 8a of the lock arm 6, as shown in FIG. 13. Therefore, the elastic deformation of the lock arm 6 is prevented, thus achieving a double-locked condition in which the cancellation of the engagement between the lock arm 6 and the engagement projection 23 is prevented by the slider 10. In this condition in which the cancellation of the engagement of the lock arm 6 is prevented by the slider 10, the male and female connectors are in a completely-fitted condition, and the contacts 31 are completely connected to the contacts 32, respectively.
This completely-fitted condition can be detected through the sense of touch obtained when the housing lock 8 slides over the engagement projection 23, and also this completely-fitted condition can be easily confirmed by viewing the position of the returned slider 10.
In the above conventional half-fitting prevention connector 100, when the slider 10 is returned to the lock position, an abutment surface 7a of the lock projection 7, formed on the lock arm 6, abuts against the rear end 13a of the slide groove 13 in the slider 10, thereby limiting the forward displacement of the slider 10, as shown in FIG. 13.
Therefore, all of the resilient forces of the compression springs 9 serve as a force of impingement of the slider 10 on the lock projection 7 on the housing 3A. Therefore, there have been encountered problems that the excessive force acts on the lock projection 7, and that a large impingement sound and impact vibration due to the impingement of the slider 10 on the lock projection 7 are produced when the slider 10 is returned, which is unpleasant.